People who bought this also bought...

The Jewel That Was Ours

The case seems so simple that Inspector Morse deems it beneath his notice. A wealthy, elderly American tourist has a heart attack in her room at Oxford’s luxurious Randolph Hotel. Missing from the scene is the lady’s handbag, which contained the Wolvercote Tongue, a priceless jewel that her late husband had bequeathed to the Ashmolean Museum just across the street. Morse proceeds to spend a great deal of time thinking—and drinking—in the hotel’s bar, certain the solution is close at hand, until conflicting stories, suspicious doings, and a real murder convince him otherwise.

Morse’s Greatest Mystery and Other Stories

Colin Dexter’s Chief Inspector Morse - the cranky, heavy-drinking, and exasperatingly brilliant sleuth of the Thames Valley Police - has become one of the most beloved detectives in fiction. Now, with this collection of 11 short stories, we can savor choice examples of his dry wit, devious cunning, and psychological insight at its best. Colin Dexter tantalizes us with six Inspector Morse adventures, ranging from bite-size morsels of intrigue to longer stories for listeners to sink their teeth into.

The Golden Ball and Other Stories

Is it a gesture of goodwill or a sinister trap that lures Rupert St. Vincent and his family to a magnificent estate? How desperate is Joyce Lambert, a destitute young widow whose only recourse is to marry a man she despises? What unexpected circumstance stirs old loyalties in Theodora Darrell, an unfaithful wife about to run away with her lover?

In this collection of short stories, the answers are as unexpected as they are satisfying. The Queen of Mystery takes bizarre romantic entanglements, supernatural visitations, and classic murder to inventive new heights.

Magpie Murders: A Novel

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the best-selling crime writer for years, she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan's traditional formula has proved hugely successful.

Call for the Dead: A George Smiley Novel

George Smiley is no one's idea of a spy - which is perhaps why he's such a natural. But Smiley apparently made a mistake. After a routine security interview, he concluded that the affable Samuel Fennan had nothing to hide. Why, then, did the man from the Foreign Office shoot himself in the head only hours later? Or did he? The heart-stopping tale of intrigue that launched both novelist and spy, Call for the Dead is an essential introduction to le Carre's chillingly amoral universe.

Some Danger Involved: Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 1

An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker takes the case, he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved", he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.

Edinburgh Twilight: Ian Hamilton Mysteries, Book 1

Detective Inspector Ian Hamilton is no stranger to Edinburgh's darkest crimes. Scarred by the mysterious fire that killed his parents, he faces his toughest case yet when a young man is found strangled in Holyrood Park. With little evidence aside from a strange playing card found on the body, Hamilton engages the help of his aunt, a gifted photographer, and George Pearson, a librarian with a shared interest in the criminal mind.

The Mistletoe Murder: And Other Stories

Four previously uncollected stories from one of the great mystery writers of our time - swift, cunning murder mysteries (two of which feature the young Adam Dalgliesh) that together, to borrow the author's own word, add up to a delightful "entertainment".

The Face of a Stranger: A William Monk Novel #1

A tragic accident leaves Inspector Monk with amnesia just moments after he solves the murder of a popular Crimean war hero. Forced to redo his entire investigation, a frustrated Monk faces a desperate murderer who will do anything to keep the inspector from discovering the truth twice.

The Last Detective

A woman's naked body is found floating in the weeds of a lake near Bath by an elderly woman walking her Siamese cats. No one comes forward to identify her, and no murder weapon is found, but sleuthing is Superintendent Peter Diamond's speciality. A genuine gumshoe, practising door stopping and deduction: he is the last detective. Struggling with office politics and a bizarre cast of suspects, Diamond strikes out on his own, even when Forensics think they have the culprit.

Open and Shut

Whether dueling with new forensics or the local old boys' network, irreverent defense attorney Andy Carpenter always leaves them awed with his biting wit and winning fourth-quarter game plan. But the fun stops the day Andy's dad, Paterson, New Jersey's legendary ex-DA, drops dead in front of him at a game in Yankee Stadium.

The Coroners Lunch

Laos, 1972. The Communist Pathet Lao has taken over. Most of the educated class has fled, but 72-year-old Dr Siri Paiboun, a Paris-trained doctor, remains and is appointed state coroner. When three bodies are recovered from a reservoir, Dr.Siri establishes the cause of death was not drowning - they seem to have been electrocuted. And then there is the inexplicable death of a Party bigwig's wife at a banquet. Dr.Siri doesn't think her death was from natural causes.

Publisher's Summary

Little progress had been made by the Thames Valley Police since the discovery of a corpse in a North Oxford flat. The victim had been killed by a single stab wound to the stomach. The police had no weapon, no suspect, no motive, but within days of taking over the investigation, Chief Inspector Morse and Detective Sergeant Lewis uncover startling new information about the life and death of the victim, Dr. Felix McClure, late of Wolsey College, Oxford.

The trail leads directly to a staircase in Wolsey College and in particular to a former "scout" there, one Edward Brooks, who disappears following the theft of a knife from the Pitt Rivers Museum. Then another body is discovered, and suddenly Morse finds himself with too many suspects and yet no solution. Then he receives a letter, a letter containing a declaration of love.

What the Critics Say

"Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse has become a favorite of mystery fans in both hemispheres. In each book, Dexter shows a new facet of the complex Morse. In this latest work, Morse must solve two related murders, a problem complicated by a plethora of suspects and by his attraction to one of the possible killers." (Amazon.com)

I had previously met Inspector Morse only on the BBC TV adaptations of Colin Dexter's books. The full book reveals a much more complex character. Don't be put off by the voice of the reader: you will soon acclimate to him, and then realize that he is, in fact, just the right reader for these books.

Just make sure that you have a l-o-n-g car journey ahead of you, because you won't want to stop until the book is over.

i was a little put off by the narrator when listening to the sample. i was irritated by his rather highbrow accent and was afraid it would spoil a book i already know so well. but i love these books and really wanted some audio inspector morse, so i gave this and the other unabridged book, the way through the woods, a try. i am glad i did. i will listen again and again to these through the years.

I like the narrator, but perhaps not for this story. For some reason, the narrator made the story choppy and the listening wouldn't flow well for me. I listen to alot of audio books, and I listen to the samples before I buy. I liked the sample enough to use a credit on this book, but I am a bit disappointed. I wish there were more Colin Dexter books, but perhaps with a different narrator.

In the beginning of this book, I wasn't so sure. The narrator took some getting used to (till, by the end, I was convinced he had done a terrific job, with voices, atmosphere, everything that could contribute to wonderful reading of this book). The setup for the whole book took a bit longer than some do. But just when I was wondering if I was going to write this off as an unfortunate mistake, I realized that my interest had sneakily gotten more and more engaged, till I didn't want to stop listening up to the end.

The plot is actually not too complicated--an Oxford professor is killed, later someone else is, as well. And naturally, they are connected. I felt many shifting levels of engagement in the story. Initially, not sure if I could stay with it, by the end, I wished it were another couple of hours longer.

Don't want to give away the plot, but I will say that the characters are perhaps more intricately developed than in other Morse books, and this book almost depends upon that for its entire understanding. The narrator who at first seemed annoying with the heaviness of his voice and his loud swallowing, gradually revealed this as being truly part of the book. Morse, as a character, is not always a socially correct sort of man. And I think the reading underscored some combination of that and the sort of stuffy, over-correctness of the Oxford world this story moves about in.

Suspect some people may just find his voice annoying. I did at first, till I realized that his intriguingly annoying speech characteristics (purposeful or not?) were making this story "work" better. Think there was also more breadth of scope for Morse as a character in this book; showed several sides of him in interesting juxtaposition. I liked it.

Where does The Daughters of Cain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Morse is one of my all-time favorite English detectives, period.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

I don't read or listen to Morse stories for the 'edge of the seatness' of them. I listen for the elegance of language, rapier sarcasm, and sometimes laugh-out-loud hypocrisy of the good Inspector Morse.

Have you listened to any of Frederick Davidson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I LOVE Frederick Davidson's readings so much that when I finished Morse, I browsed Audible looking for all the other books he's narrated. I frequently see criticisms of his readings in these reviews and I can understand those readers' objections--Davidson's voice is sooooo exquisitely posh that, well, you either love it (as I do) or hate it (as other readers have remarked.) I am an American from the Midwest and to me, even the writing here of the words 'exquisitely posh' makes me happy, because the words are, well, so exquisitely posh--just like Davidson's voice. I now have many of his readings in my Wish List and look forward to listening to him for many hours to come.

Would you be willing to try another one of Frederick Davidson’s performances?

I will have to remember to avoid his narrations in the future. I have listened to hundreds and hundreds of books - and I've run across this narrator a few times before. I have to say that I truly despise his style - after listening to the book for over 30 minutes, I realized that I hadn't absorbed one iota because I was so intently annoyed by the reader. He sounds so affectedly smarmy, snooty and oozy that he makes the story OTHER than what it is. Technically, he pronounces all the words correctly, etc. But, his manner of speaking is SO exaggeratedly snobby British with that constant sarcastic and uber superior snideness that I simply can't understand why any author would allow him to read their books aloud. His every word sounds like a condemnation of the story itself. Not only that, I tire of listening to him swallow, smack his tongue and otherwise gather spit in his mouth in order to continue to the next sentence. Yech.